1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slim-frame door, which is designed to be displaceable and/or tiltable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Slim-frame glass doors are characterized in particular by the fact that, at least on their two vertical sides, they have a very slim frame section which, in particular, serves as a glass protector. As a result, slim-frame glass doors give a user in particular the impression of a door leaf formed completely of glass.
Sliding doors are known in an extremely wide range of configurations. Here, sliding doors can be guided on guide rails, such as a ceiling rail or a floor rail or both on a ceiling rail and on a floor rail. In this case, a sliding piece is usually guided in the respective rail, so that the sliding door can be displaced in the direction of the ceiling/floor rail. The form of the sliding piece is matched to the profile of the guide rail, so that the sliding piece can be guided securely in the guide rail. The guide rail engages to some extent around the sliding piece, so that it cannot be removed upward from the guide rail, at right angles to the displacement direction.
When sliding doors are being used, the problem can occur that the bottom and/or the ceiling slope slightly. A slope of the floor is, for example, often the case in old buildings. Because of such slopes of the ceiling or of the floor, the displacement of the sliding door is made more difficult or, in the extreme case, made impossible, since the sliding piece of the sliding door can jam in the sloping ceiling rail/floor rail. This can lead to the sliding door no longer being able to be opened or closed completely. In addition, as a result of such slopes the friction between the sliding piece and the rail is increased, which leads to an increased expenditure of force during displacement of the sliding door.
In the case of sliding doors in which the guide rail is arranged in the floor, there is, furthermore, in particular in winter, the problem that small stones or grit will get into the floor rail. In this case, these small stones can be positioned between the sliding piece and the guide rail in such a way that the sliding piece jams in the guide rail. This leads to the sliding door being blocked, so that it can no longer be displaced. The stones jammed in then have to be removed by hand with a deal of effort in order to restore the function of the sliding door.
Moreover, sliding doors are known which have complicated mechanical cleaning devices in the floor area in front of this sliding door, comprising a plurality of brushes which move in opposition to one another in order to clean the shoes of stones or other small objects, so that these cannot get into the floor rail of the sliding door and jam the sliding piece of the sliding door. However, cleaning of this type is frequently only incomplete.
The present invention further relates to a pivoting fitting for a slim-frame glass door. The pivoting fitting comprises a carrying arm and a shaft, the carrying arm being arranged in a carrier section and the shaft in a section of a door leaf, which is pivotably mounted on the carrier section.
A pivoting fitting of this type is disclosed for example by DE 198 56 040 A1. The pivoting fitting shown there is used to mount a glass door leaf, which has a frame formed from identically constructed sections. Here, the door leaf is mounted on the carrier section in such a way that a shaft is on one side mounted in the carrier section and on the other side arranged in the door leaf section. Here, the shaft is arranged only in the vertical section of the door leaf section and is inserted into the hollow vertical section of the door leaf. After the shaft has been inserted into the vertical hollow section in the door leaf, the shaft is fixed in the section by means of screws. The shaft is therefore fixed in the section such that it cannot rotate. However, since the shaft is fixed in the horizontal section of the door leaf, the pivoting fitting disclosed in this document cannot be used for slim-frame glass doors.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,651 discloses a revolving door which has a separate device to pivot the revolving leaves individually, in order to bring the leaves of the doors into a parallel arrangement. As a result, for example, a rapid possible escape can be provided. In this case, a glass door is also provided, but has a conventional section as the frame. The ability of the individual leaves to pivot is in this case implemented via a shaft which, on one side, is arranged in the frame of the door and on the other side is arranged in a carrier section. The rotation of the door leaves is carried out here via a common central axis. When a certain torque is exerted on a single door leaf, a mechanical resistance arranged in the carrier section can be overcome, so that the individual door leaf can rotate about the shaft and an escape route can be opened.
Furthermore, a suspension for rotating door leaves is disclosed by AT-23722, in which two ball bearings are provided on door leaves arranged to swing on vertical journals. An upper ball bearing is used to suspend the rotary journal, a lower ball bearing is used to support the revolving door leaf.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a slim-frame door which, with a simple construction and the ability to be produced simply and cost-effectively, is to be designed to be displaceable and/or pivotable. In this case, slopes of a guide rail arranged in the ceiling or the floor are to be compensated for, and jamming of the sliding piece with the guide rail is to be prevented. Furthermore, a pivoting fitting is to be provided which, with little expenditure on material and production, can be mounted simply and permits use in slim-frame glass doors.
Slim-frame door leaves are to be understood as those door leaves which, at least on their vertical sides, have only a very slim glass termination, that is to say edge protection with a low thickness. This fine edge protection primarily serves to protect the glass of the door leaf.
The door according to the invention, in one embodiment as a sliding door, comprises a compensating device in order to compensate for slopes of a guide rail, such as a ceiling rail and/or a floor rail. It should be noted that, under the term ceiling rail, a guide rail arranged in an upper door frame is also to be understood. Here, the sliding door is guided in the guide rail by means of one or more sliding pieces. The slope of the guide rail is in this case present relative to a horizontal edge of the sliding door. The compensating device comprises a hollow section and a compensating element which is arranged in the hollow section. The compensating element is connected to the sliding piece and can be moved in the vertical direction in the hollow section (that is to say at right angles to the horizontal edge of the sliding door), in order to compensate for any slopes which may be present during displacement of the sliding door. The compensating device according to the invention in this case compensates for slopes present in the floor or the ceiling by means of a vertical relative movement between the hollow section and the compensating element arranged therein. This prevents stresses caused by the slope of the guide rail being transmitted to the sliding door. By means of the compensating device according to the invention, safe operation of the sliding door can thus be ensured, even if a slope of the ceiling or of the floor should occur following the installation of the sliding door or should exist from the start. The compensating device according to the invention ensures that the sliding piece can always move freely in the respective guide rail.
The hollow section of the compensating device is preferably simultaneously formed as a frame section for the sliding door. In other words, the hollow section is integrated in the frame section of the sliding door. As a result, the frame section of the sliding door can be used for the compensating device, so that a particularly low number of components is obtained. As a result, the production and mounting costs may be reduced.
In order to permit simple mounting of the compensating device, the compensating element is preferably detachably connected to the sliding piece. As a result, simple replaceability of the sliding piece, for example in the event of wear of the sliding piece caused by use, is also possible. A detachable connection can be achieved, for example, by means of a bush which is arranged on the sliding piece and in which one end of the compensating element is arranged, the end of the compensating element being clamped in the bush, for example by means of a grub screw.
Through openings are preferably formed in the hollow section. By means of these through openings, simple mounting of the hollow section on the sliding door can be made possible.
In order to permit good mobility of the compensating element in the hollow section, a clearance fit is preferably provided between the hollow section and the compensating element. The two elements sliding in each other particularly preferably have a precision-machined surface, in order to minimize the friction between the hollow section and the compensating element.
The hollow section particularly preferably has a cylindrical hollow region, and the compensating element is formed as a round piece (shaft) to correspond to the hollow region. In this case, for example a tube or the like can be used for the hollow section. The compensating device according to the invention can therefore be provided particularly cost-effectively.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the hollow section has a square hollow region and the compensating element is provided as a correspondingly formed square.
It should be noted that the hollow section and the compensating element can assume a very wide range of forms, it being necessary to ensure only that the compensating element is arranged such that it can move in the hollow section, in order to permit a compensating movement during displacement of the sliding door.
The sliding piece according to the invention for a sliding door is arranged in a guide rail, in order to guide the sliding door along the guide rail. In this case, the guide rail is arranged in the floor. At least one end in its direction of movement, the sliding piece has a wedge-like region. As a result of this wedge-like region, the sliding piece is able to lift objects located on a base plane of the guide rail, such as small stones or gravel, slightly away from the edge of the guide rail or from the base plane of the guide rail, so that these objects cannot come in between the sliding piece and the guide rail. Thus, with the sliding piece according to the invention, for the first time effective jamming between the sliding piece and the guide rail on account of objects positioned between these two parts is prevented. During the movement of the sliding piece, the wedge-like region of the sliding piece ensures that the objects in the guide rail are removed from the guide regions of the rail, in which they could jam.
According to a particularly preferred refinement of the present invention, the wedge-like region of the sliding piece is arranged at right angles to a horizontal base plane of the guide rail. This means that it is possible to ensure that objects in the guide rail can be removed from the wall of the guide rail, so that it is possible to prevent small stones coming between the wall region of the guide rail and the sliding piece. By means of the wedges arranged at right angles to the base plane, stones which are close to the wall region of the guide rail are moved away from the latter, so that jamming of sliding piece and guide rail can reliably be prevented.
According to a further preferred refinement of the present invention, the wedge-like region of the sliding piece is formed in such a way that it rises from the horizontal base plane of the guide rail. In other words, a ramp-like region is formed on the sliding piece, so that stones which lie on the base plane of the guide rail are easily lifted by the ramp-like region. This prevents stones being able to get between the sliding piece and the base plane of the guide rail and in this way lead to jamming of the sliding piece in the guide rail. In order to be able to prevent the sliding piece jamming in both directions of movement of the sliding piece, at least one wedge-like region is preferably in each case arranged at both ends of the sliding piece.
It is particularly preferable for the sliding piece to have, at each end in its direction of movement, two wedge-like regions arranged at right angles to the horizontal base plane of the guide rail. This ensures that, at both wall regions of the guide rail, no stones can come in between the sliding piece and the guide rail. A sliding piece of this type therefore has a total of four wedge-like regions, which are able to prevent jamming on both sides of the sliding piece in both directions of movement.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the present invention, the sliding piece additionally has a recess, which is arranged immediately adjacent to a wedge-like region. This recess serves to accommodate objects which are guided over the wedge-like region as a result of the movement of the sliding piece. This means that the objects located in the guide rail are virtually swept out of the guide rail by the movement of the sliding piece and accommodated in the recess, in which they are then collected. The collected objects can then simply be sucked out of the recess, for example by means of a vacuum cleaner.
In a sliding door according to the invention which uses the sliding piece according to the invention, it is therefore ensured that jamming of the sliding piece in the guide rail on account of small stones or the like is effectively prevented. The sliding piece according to the invention is particularly simply constructed and can reliably prevent the sliding piece jamming.
The pivoting fitting according to the invention for a slim-frame glass door comprises a carrying arm and a shaft or a rotary journal. The carrying arm is arranged in a carrier section which, for example, is installed in a wall (frame) above the door leaf. The shaft is arranged in a section of the door leaf, the door leaf being pivotably mounted on the carrier section via the shaft. In order to permit use in slim-frame glass doors, the shaft is arranged in a horizontal section of the door frame. In this case, the horizontal section of the door leaf has at least a thickness to enable the shaft to be fixed securely. Since the horizontal section for accommodating the shaft is arranged on the upper end region of the glass door leaf, this section does not cause any great visual impairment of the aesthetic impression of the glass door either. As a result of using the pivoting fitting according to the invention, a slim-frame door can therefore be used which has a narrow section, at least on the two vertical sides. Furthermore, the lower horizontal frame can also be formed from a slim-frame section. The pivoting fitting according to the invention has an advantageous construction in this case, so that the number of individual parts can be kept very low. As a result, the expenditure on production is reduced and mounting can be simplified considerably. At the same time, the door leaf is provided with a mounting which is effective and invisible from the outside.
Particularly simple and fast mounting results if the shaft is preferably arranged to be rotatable in the carrying arm and fixed against rotation in the horizontal section of the door leaf. It should be noted, however, that the shaft can also be provided so as to be fixed against rotation in the carrying arm and arranged to be rotatable in the horizontal section.
In order to provide a particularly easy running bearing, the shaft is preferably mounted in at least one bearing bush in the carrying arm. Particularly preferably, two bushes are provided for the mounting, which are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance.
The shaft is preferably fixed to the horizontal section of the door leaf by means of welding. However, it is also possible to connect the shaft to the horizontal section by means of screw connections or the like.
In order to achieve the lowest possible door weight, the horizontal section is preferably at least partly hollow.
According to a further preferred refinement of the present invention, a separate insert is provided, which can be arranged in a region of the hollow horizontal section and to which the shaft is fixed. This results in particularly simple mounting, since the shaft can already previously be fixed to the separate insert by means of welding and on site, during the mounting, the insert together with shaft can simply be pushed into the hollow horizontal section and fixed in the section, for example by means of screws. Fixing the insert by means of screws results in a particularly preferred detachable configuration of the insert from the section, so that simple disassembly is also possible.
In order to provide as positive a visual impression as possible, the slim, vertical frame section preferably has a thickness of about 8 mm.
An adjusting device for aligning the door leaf with respect to the carrier section is preferably provided. As a result, slight slopes of the carrier section or of the floor relative to the door leaf can be compensated for. Since the door leaf is normally glazed only after mounting, it is also possible for the increase in weight caused by this in relation to the carrier section to be compensated for by means of the adjusting means.